I just wanted to let people know that we have moved our family blog over to a new location. The site Blogger offers more and is easier to access from Beijing. After I figure out how to move all of the blogs from here to there, I will close this account. My children are asking me to keep up with the blogging because it helps them retain their memories. So, that is my goal for this next year 
The new location is : http://lalmans2china.blogspot.com/
Hope your day is beautiful!!
~Nancy
I can not believe how time has just flown by! My wonderful husband mentioned to me the other day that it has been a while since I have updated this blog. When I looked at what we have done in the last few months, it is a wonder that we accomplished anything at all! We filled our days so full that we are in desperate need of a break! I am just going to upload some pictures to cover some highlights since I last wrote. Maybe I can then get back on track.
I will tell you about one change though. I am now teaching girls softball at the school I teach at. It was very interesting because I was the one to have to go and buy the equipment. I have went to no less than 10 places that sell the bats but no balls. I finally started asking them how they play if they don’t sell balls. They only scratch their head and say they don’t know how to play. Needless to say, it has been a challenge getting all the equipment together.
The best news of all is that our oldest son Micah is here for the summer. It has been wonderful having him home again!! He is also teaching at the school and coaching boys baseball! I may just decide to hold onto him for another year I praise the Lord that our children can be a blessing to others as well as to this mom!!
“Tis so Sweet”
Mothers Day Brunch
Mother’s Day gifts!
Micah comes home!
Rafting at the church retreat
Bonfire and roasting marshmallows at church retreat
Speaking to the ladies!
baby locusts for lunch!
Cherith and Julianna
Stay tuned!! Will update more soon!!
As many of you know, I teach at an underground christian school. This semester my classes changed to all English classes which I have really LOVED. The junior high and high school class is combined. They have about 16 students. I teach Speech class four times a week. Now understand that these are Chinese young people that speak English as a second language. So, for them, speech class is very important. It is one of their favorite classes as well as mine. These last two weeks we have been working on, reviewing and giving examples of how to give your testimony using a manuscript. One of our biggest problems here is that the understanding of salvation is unclear. Most people think if they just slowly change to going to church and believing, that they have become a christian. So, to limit the confusion, I gave my testimony in depth to them in a class last week. I had 5 young people come to me after class and say that they were confused. Two of them told me that they were not christian and wanted to know how to give a testimony. I told them that they would have to wait for the next speech. Prayerfully after they hear their peers give a testimony, it will encourage them to accept Christ as Savior. Two young ladies told me they did not remember. I explained again to them that salvation is a definite time that you remember repenting of your sins and turning to Christ. It is not church attendance nor is it baptism. They then understood. The last young man told me that he didn’t understand what I meant by doubting my salvation. He was also having those issues. So, this last Sunday he talked to his Sunday School teacher and wanted to get the doubts settled once and for all! They asked my husband to talk to him in Chinese and pray with him in Chinese so that there would be no doubt to his understanding. He bowed his head and accepted Jesus as his Savior. He is telling everyone about it and I look forward to hearing his testimony later this week. Sometimes what we do may seem like a small thing but you just never know why God has you where He has you at that particular time. It is glorious thing when the angels shout HALLELUJAH another child has been born again!
Have you ever stopped to think about how much God loves us by how He brings friends and family into our lives. He handpicks or love picks each person that we have in our circle of life. (Now that sounded new agey, huh?) I can’t help but look at my family and friends and thank God that He allowed each of us to be together!
My 44 roses from the greatest husband in the world!
Joseph and mom
At Fresh Element
I had a wonderful 44th birthday. My family took me out to eat on the Friday before my birthday. I got to choose where we went and I chose Fresh Element! I LOVE that place! My favorite thing to get is their tandoori chicken wrap! Yummo! I am sure the other items are just as good but I wouldn’t know because we don’t go that often and when we do, I get the tanoori chicken wrap! They then took me shopping! That is no small feat with the two men in our house. I think they enjoyed it even though you may not get them to admit it They bought me a few articles of clothing and some jewelry. What a blessing to have such a loving and wonderful family! They are also very fun to be around!
My favorite...tandoori chicken wrap
I failed to get a picture of this without the blur
6 stitches
The following Friday my dear American friends wanted to take me out for my birthday! They chose a pizza place called the Kro’s Nest. I believe the owner is American. It has quite an interesting story. The pizza is the size of the table and you can get almost anything including one called the kitchen sink. My favorite was the ragin’ Cajun although it wasn’t really very spicy. My friend Penny Sue made a carrot cake which she knows to be one of my favorites. They are just such sweet friends! I love them dearly!
Kro's Nest pizza
with a bandage on my head
Sweet Friends
Micah, our oldest son also called me and many FB friends said happy birthday! Awww….it just can’t get any better than all of this!!
We discovered a few skiing slopes just down the street from our house! My children wanted to try it and they did a great job! I was so surprised! Kendale and I BOTH agreed that we are too old and feeble to try this at our age! I could only imagine one of us breaking something I have to admit that it looked like loads of fun and if I could do it in the summer where I could stay warm, I would definitely get out there and try it I am so proud of Joseph for trying the snowboarding. He thought is looked way more cool than skiing. I only wish that I had known at that time that I could stand at the bottom of the hill to videotape Way to go, Cherith, Joseph, Moriah and Holly!!
Happy Chinese New Year
I am sure that most people are aware of Chinese New Year. One of the new single ladies here, said to me, “you know you read maybe one or two sentences in the history books about Chinese New Year being an important holiday but that doesn’t even compare to the reality of it”! That about says it all…. This year has been the same as other years. They shoot off fireworks for 15 days. One of our ladies told me that from the second day til the 15th day, they shoot them off at all the meal times. They shoot them off for various reasons. Some to ward off the evil spirits. Some to welcome the good spirits of the new year. While others do it just for the fun of it. It was so cold this year that I caught Holly lighting one from inside the house and throwing it outside! My children did all have their fun but I say enough is enough!! It wears you out listening to all of the noise! I woke up one time thinking that we were under attack! It is a festive time to be sure. The Sunday of the New Year brought about 50 people to church. We all made chinese dumplings called jiaozi. They were VERY good. I tried my hand at making them….again. I just can’t seem to get the pinching down the way they like it. After several attempts and three different people showing me three different ways to close them up, I gave up! I told them that I think they are born knowing how to make jiaozi! We will just eat them, thank you very much!
Chinese Jiaozi
We have been enjoying the time off from many things. We have still had homeschool but I have not had to teach in the afternoons nor have we had Chinese or music lessons. It has been NICE! I have been able to work on household projects and am so happy that they are getting close to being done. I finished our family room walls today.
family photos
Family is...
The girls and I have also had more time to cook! That has been fun although Kendale and I are being VERY careful with what we eat. I found a wonderful recipe on Pinterest and wanted to share it here. My children are the only ones that ate them and they said they were “THE BEST!!!” I even took pictures of the finished product! WOW! Does that make me a “real” blogger?
Cinnamon roll pancakes!
cinnamon roll pancakes with powdered sugar glaze!
cinnamon roll pancakes
Yield: 4 servings (4 pancakes)
Prep Time: 25 min Cook Time: 10 min
An absolutely decadent morning treat…
Ingredients:
PANCAKES:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
CINNAMON FILLING:
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
CREAM CHEESE GLAZE:
4 Tablespoons butter
2 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Prepare pancake batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in milk, oil and egg, just until batter is moistened (a few small lumps are fine).
2. In a medium bowl, mix butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a small zip baggie and set aside. You don’t want this to remain super-liquidy. It’s best if it becomes a consistency similar to toothpaste.
3. In a medium, microwave-safe bowl- heat butter and cream cheese until melted. Whisk together until smooth; whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla extract; set aside.
4. Heat large skillet over medium-low heat. Spray with nonstick spray. Scoop about 3/4 cup batter onto the skillet. Snip the corner of your baggie of filling and squeeze a spiral of the filling onto the top of the pancake. When bubbles begin to appear on the surface, flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a baking sheet or platter and keep in a warm oven until ready to serve.
5. When ready to serve, spoon warmed glaze onto the top of each pancake.
Tips:
*Keep the heat low or your pancakes might cook up too quickly. Don’t flip them until you see those bubbles starting to pop on top. Flip them with a wide spatula so you can grasp the whole thing without batter and filling dripping all over the place!
*It’s best if you pour the batter onto your skillet, wait a minute or so and then swirl the cinnamon onto the batter. That’ll give it a chance to set a little before you add the swirl.
*If your baggie of filling begins to get too thick, just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up again. On that same note, it shouldn’t be too runny. The consistency of soft toothpaste is perfect. If it’s melty and runny, it will tend to run all over your pancakes. Once you micro it, let it sit on the counter at room temp for a while until it thickens slightly.
